September was a bit of a light month for big releases in the world of country, folk, bluegrass, Americana, and beyond, but there’s great stuff below by artists from New Zealand to North Carolina to the Great White North, plus a star-studded bluegrass tribute to a folk-singing giant. Enjoy!
Bob Sumner
Some Place To Rest Easy
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
Like his fellow Western Canadian singer-songwriter Mariel Buckley, who made one of the best albums of 2022, Bob Sumner makes folksy Americana music that’s understated, easygoing, and consistently tuneful; this is music for overcast Sunday mornings. On Some Place to Rest Easy, Sumner tastefully uses synthesizers alongside more traditional country elements to give his songs a distinctly modern feel without getting all hokey about it. An impressive collection from the veteran Vancouverite in the big hat!
Tami Neilson
Neilson Sings Nelson
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
One of the highlights of Tami Neilson’s 2022 album Kingmaker is “Beyond the Stars,” a mournful waltz and a duet with the legendary Willie Nelson. Now, the powerhouse country-soul singer—born in Canada and based in New Zealand—is back with a whole album of Willie covers recorded at Nelson’s Pedernales Studio in Texas. And what happens when you pair a world-class vocalist with one of history’s greatest songbooks? You get an exceedingly arrestingly beautiful album, of course. For evidence, queue up Neilson singing “Always On My Mind” and listen to the way she brings new life to a song you’ve probably heard dozens of times.
JP Harris
JP Harris Is A Trash Fire
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
In his hometown of Nashville, JP Harris hops on stages to play with string bands, lends his killer banjo tones to records by Music City’s finest, and even restores historic homes. (He’s both a carpenter and a musician.) On Trash Fire, however, the hirsute Harris takes center stage, delivering 10 tracks of ‘70s-echoing country music flecked with folk, blues, old-time, Southern rock, and soul. Turns out he’s not just a banjoist and a builder, he’s also blessed with a sturdy, expressive voice and sounds like he was born to sing these songs.
MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks
Cassette, Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
Yes, like just about everyone else on the planet, we here at Best Country Music on Bandcamp love the new album of slanted, enchanted indie-twang-rock from North Carolina’s MJ Lenderman. You don’t need to read more words on it, probably… Just know that his excellent 2022 album Boat Songs made our list of that year’s best country albums, and this one’s more country than that one was.
Caleb Caudle
Sweet Critters
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
For a dozen years, Caleb Caudle has been one of the most consistent voices in Southern roots music, whether he was singing from New Orleans, his native North Carolina, or points in between. His latest album, Sweet Critters, delivers more of what we’ve come to expect from Caudle: Well-crafted, highly literate songs about people, places, and feelings, plus warm, rich arrangements built from acoustic instruments, authentic twang, and Appalachian soul.
Folk Options
Late Great Thrills
Cassette
Folk Options is Will Linhares from St. Louis, Missouri. That’s what it says on his Bandcamp profile, and that’s about the extent of what we know about this project. Well, that and Late Great Thrills is a collection of six songs that bring together Linhares’s languorous, David Berman-style vocals, unmistakably twangy sounds courtesy of pedal steel guitar and fiddle, and heavily fuzzed-out vibes. Without question, Folk Options exists out on the fringes of country music, and we’re big fans of the fringes ‘round here.
Tom Paxton
Bluegrass Sings Paxton
Compact Disc (CD)
Tom Paxton isn’t a household name—in most homes, at least—but he has been a key figure in folk music over the past six decades, writing songs that were recorded by artists like Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Judy Collins and earning a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2009. On Bluegrass Sings Paxton producers Cathy Fink and Jon Weisberger look to spread awareness of the man’s oeuvre by bringing in an impressive roster of players to record his songs, including Alice Gerrard, Tim O’Brien, Claire Lynch, Danny Paisley, and Laurie Lewis. The tribute kicks off in fine fashion, as the project’s namesake joins Boston bluegrass band Della Mae for a spirited take on “I Can’t Help But Wonder (Where I’m Bound),” a Paxton tune that has become a bluegrass standard.
Eliza Thorn
Somebody New
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
There’s no shortage of country artists out there mining bygone musical styles and translating them into growing interest—Charley Crockett and Sierra Ferrell come to mind. On her debut album Somebody New, Eliza Thorn presents nine punchy country songs while also veering into the blues, Western swing, a hint of jazz, and even yodeling. The thread that binds them together is Thorn’s big personality and even bigger voice, which practically leaps from the speakers.
